Jar Jar Actor Reveals He Almost Ended His Life Because of the Fan Backlash

It's no mystery that Jar Jar Binks was one of the more reviled characters by the fans when Star Wars Episode I came out. It's almost ridiculous how much a lot of the fans hate Jar Jar, but with the recent shake-up caused by Kelly Marie Tran's Instagram exit, Jar Jar actor Ahmed Best reveals that he almost ended his life due to the backlash of his character.

He shared this post on Twitter:

The post is now urging a lot of "Jar Jar lovers" to come out and show their support for Best. As a kid I actually loved the character, but seeing the hate for him online has admittedly scared me into convincing myself that Jar Jar was terrible. At least now I know I wasn't alone.

Though we may never see Jar Jar onscreen again, his fate had actually been sealed in the canon. Thanks to the novel Star Wars: Aftermath, we get a sad tale of a homeless Gungan on Naboo. Here's the excerpt:

Since children started coming in by the shipload as refugees, the Gungan has served them, performing for the kids once or twice a day. He does tricks. He juggles. He falls over and shakes his head as his eyes roll around inside their fleshy stalks. He makes goofy sounds and does strange little dances. Sometimes it's the same performance, repeated. Sometimes the Gungan does different things, things you've never seen, thing's you'll never see again. Just a few days ago, he splashed into the fountain's center, then pretended to have the streams shoot him way up in the air. He leapt straight up, then back down with a splash. And he leapt from compass point to compass point, back and forth, before finally conking his head on the edge and plopping down on his butt. Shaking his head. Tongue wagging. All the kids laughed. Then the Gungan laughed, too.

The clown, they called him "Bring the clown. We want to see the clown. We like it how he juggles glombo shells, or spits fish up in the air and catches them, or how he dances around and falls on his butt."

The adults, though. They don't say much about him. Or to him. And no other Gungans come to see him, either. Nobody even says his name.

If you're having your doubts that this character is Jar Jar, a bit of dialogue from the book confirms that he is, in fact, Jar Jar, and he had been banished because of his proposal to give emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor—giving rise to the Empire.

With the Star Wars fanbase now looking inward and trying to push out the toxic fans, hopefully more supporters of Best's character will make themselves more vocal.

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